Thursday, March 31, 2005

"World's most sensitive scalesweigh a zeptogram: The world's most sensitive scales can now detect a cluster of xenon atoms a billion, trillion times lighter than a gram. A zeptogram (10 exp-21 g) is roughly the mass of a single protein molecule and its detection has set a new record."

Invention of the day: The SleepTracker wristwatch, which "monitors your sleep and wakes you at the moment that your body would best adjust from moving from a sleeping state to being awake." (Via BBspot.)

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Prankster smuggles art into 4 New York museums: According to this article,

Many a visitor to New York's Museum of Modern Art has probably thought, "I could do that."

A British graffiti artist who goes by the name "Banksy" went one step further, by smuggling in his own picture of a soup can and hanging it on a wall, where it stayed for more than three days earlier this month before anybody noticed.

The prank was part of a coordinated plan to infiltrate four of New York's top museums on a single day.

Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location in Britain, Banksy said he conducted all four operations on March 13, helped by accomplices who filmed him and provided distractions where necessary.

"They staged a gay tiff (lovers' quarrel), shouting very loudly and obnoxiously," said the artist, declining to give his real name or any personal details beyond his occupation as a professional painter and decorator.

Friday, March 25, 2005

"Two tiny species of tropical octopus have demonstrated a remarkable disappearing trick. They adopt a two-armed 'walk' that frees up their remaining six limbs to camouflage them as they slink away from trouble." Here's a related story.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Nice overview of neuroeconomics -- namely the application of functional brain imaging to economic decision making. What's especially interesting is learning when people make decisions based on reason, and when they let their emotions take over. (Via Linkfilter.)

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Invention of the day:Clocky. "Clocky is a clock for people who have trouble getting out of bed. When the snooze bar is pressed, Clocky rolls off the table and finds a hiding spot, a new one every day." (Via Linkfilter.)

Thursday, March 10, 2005

USB flash drive are everywhere. What's especially interesting is the trend where more people are keeping their personal documents and data on on their USB drive, then turning any other computer they use into a functional copy of their home machine.

The Liberal VVD minister defended his proposal by pointing out that Muslims often refuse to donate organs based on religious beliefs. This is despite the fact they are willing to receive an organ if they are ill. "That creates a bad feeling," he said.

"If you say: 'I refuse to donate an organ because of my religion, but I don't want to receive one either', than I will respect it. But I won't respect a one-sided attitude of receiving and not giving. I find that problematic," Hoogervorst said.

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Friday, March 04, 2005

Collapsing bubbles can reach temperatures as high as 20,000 degrees Kelvin or 35,000 degress Fahrenheit, i.e., 4 times hotter than the surface of the sun. Of course, this does not indicate that there's any merit behind so-called "table-top fusion", but hope springs eternal... Here's a related article.